Current Reads…. February 10, 2009

John Grisham’s THE ASSOCIATE is the closest thing he’s written to his first commercially successful novel The Firm. If you enjoyed The Firm, you will like The Associate. There isn’t much more to say about it — except to remind people to play the Foot-Game with Mr. Grisham’s books…by page 100, I had counted 50 references to feet, shoes, socks, loafers, legs, ankles, etc…Glad to see his foot-fetish remains intact…I lost track after that as I rushed to finish the book and move on to something more substantial.

Favorite thing I’ve read in a really long time is a book you can’t get in the US yet, but I completely recommend you invest in a copy through amazon.ca or amazon.uk — Marc Levy (my favorite French writer) has done it again — CHILDREN OF FREEDOM is a wonderful novel, based on completely true stories about the French Resistance during WWII, the novel follows a group of 16 – 24 year olds as they work to sabotage Nazi activity, live, and to love. Halfway through the book, the novel takes a completely different turn and without giving away any further specifics, follows the trail of the last Phantom Train as it makes its way toward a concentration camp. Excellent and compelling reading. Not sure why it hasn’t been published in the USA yet, but it is a international best-seller phenomenon in Europe right now.

***02/12/09 Update — I got a nice letter from Marc Levy that indicates that CHILDREN OF FREEDOM will be released in Canada in early April and available from Amazon at that time, but no publisher yet in the States. He sends his regards.